David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The statement the Minister of State was given referred to additional beds that have been brought into the system. In her speech, she mentioned 800 new acute beds and she went on to detail some of them. She did not say that many of these beds are actually replacement beds. A few days ago, I was in Portiuncula hospital and met the hospital manager. The Minister of State spoke about 62 beds, but 50 of those are replacement beds and only 12 are new. They are single isolation room beds which are replacing wards that are being repurposed for other uses. These are not new beds and do not bring additional capacity. It is unfair to suggest to people they are new beds when they are not new beds.

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